Tag: Outlaw Country
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The Highwaymen ‘Highwayman’ (1985)
Combining the talents of Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, and Kris Kristofferson onto a single album would have been unheard of during the 1970’s when all four were in their commercial and artistic heyday. Three out of those four men are proverbial titans of country music (Cash, Nelson, Jennings) known for their brand of…
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Kris Kristofferson ‘Kristofferson’ (1970)
Kristofferson is the debut album from famed country outlaw Kris Kristofferson, perhaps best known for his time with The Highwaymen alongside Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, and Waylon Jennings. But well before he became a well-known proponent of alternative country, Kristofferson was but a 34-year old man still looking for his way in life. In between…
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Merle Haggard & The Strangers ‘Mama Tried’ (1968)
“Mama Tried” is the song country legend Merle Haggard is best known for and it’s actually a semi-autobiographical one. At the age of nine years old Haggard’s father died of a brain hemorrhage, a moment that had a materical impact on the young Haggard. With the absence of a father figure in his life Haggard…
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Johnny Cash ‘At Folsom Prison’ (1968)
I’ll be in attendance at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville tonight for the first time in my life and cannot wait. This is the birthplace of American country music, the Mecca where it all started, and has long been on my bucket list of places to see a live show. It’s going to be…
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Waylon Jennings ‘Honky Tonk Heroes’ (1973)
Waylon Jennings is an almost mythical force in the history of outlaw country, a sub-genre that bucked the norms of the Nashville establishment in the early 70’s. Disillusioned with both the artistic and sonic constraints of producers like Chet Atkins who favored slick production over a more organic and natural sound, artists like Jennings and…
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David Allan Coe ‘Longhaired Redneck’ (1976)
David Allan Coe has always been country’s crazy old drunk uncle, a freewheeling individualist that stood out even in a genre that was filled to the brim with them. Like one of his country music icons Merle Haggard (whom he namedrops in the title track), Coe’s outlaw country bonafides were the real deal– the early…
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Willie Nelson ‘Red Headed Stranger’ (1975)
Willie Nelson’s 1975 album Red Headed Stranger was a watermark moment for country music in that it moved the genre beyond a collection of singles pressed onto a 12-inch circular piece of polyvinyl chloride (i.e. a vinyl record) and into a singular world that had a common thematic structure. Put another way, the art of…
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Moe Bandy & Joe Stampley ‘Just Good Ol’ Boys’ (1979)
Moe Bandy and Joe Stampley were outlaw country stalwarts in the mid-70’s. Taking influence from the rough and tumble honky tonk of Hank Williams, their individual solo careers were filled with barroom ballads covering topics like lost love, cheating, and whiskey (three topics that are natural fits together) and helped drive redneck regalia to the…
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Taylor McCall ‘Black Powder Soul’ (2021)
Black Powder Soul by Taylor McCall sounds like if Dustin Kensrue from Thrice and The Black Keys got together to write an outlaw country record. In other words, it sounds pretty fucking awesome. This has all the elements that check the box for what I love about outlaw country music. Acoustic guitars in minor keys,…
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